Shuttle for sewing-machines.



. PATENTED APR, 7, 1903 F..L. BABE. SHUTTLE FOR SEWING MACHINES;

APPLICATION FILED JULY 23, 1902.

xo nonm.

UNITED ST T-Es PATENT OFFICE.

FRED L. BABB, OF-LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHUTTLE FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 724,652, dated April 7, 1903.

Application filed July 23 1902. Serial No. 116 6631 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.- t

Be it known that I, FRED L.. BABB, a citizenof the United States, residing at'Lynn; in

chines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and nse the same.

The present-invention relates to shuttles,

for sewing-machines.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple and efiicient friction device for the cop which shall cause a resistance to rotation of the cop substantially proportional to the diameter of the cop, so that the tension on the thread shall be practically constant, no matter whether the cop be full or partially exhausted.

Another object of the present invention is to produce a friction device for the cop which will have no tendency to abrade or entangle the thread.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a friction device which shall engage the cop directly and produce a smooth and even friction with a minimum of pressure.

With these objects in view the present invention consists of the devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described and claimed.

Heretofore in the art it has been found most desirable to employin connectionwith shuttles of sewing-machines a cop of thread supported upon a cop-tube of paper or pasteboard, and many shuttles have been devised in which these cops could be used directly without the necessity of rewinding the thread upon a bobbin of peculiar size and shape to fit the shuttle. Whether these cops be used directly or whether the thread must be rewound upon a bobbin it has been found necessary to employa friction device of some sort to prevent the bobbin or cop from overrunning, and thus snarling or entangling the thread. When the cop is used directly in a bobbin-case, it has been the practice to employ a friction device of spring metal which is interposed between the bobbin-case and the cop and by its yielding pressure produces sufficient frictional resistance to prevent overrunning of the cop in the bobbin-case. These metallic friction devices, however, have been found objectionable for several reasons. They are uncertain in action, as sometimes they rotate with the cop while at others they are held by the bobbin-case, thefrictional resistance of the cop to rotation thus varying considerably, accordingto whether the sliding contact is between the thread and the metallic friction device or between the metallic friction device and the metallic bobbin-case. Moreover, the thread is liable to be abraded or entangled by the spring-arms of such devices. When these metallic friction devicesare locatedwithin the bobbin-case, they are necessarily very small, and if for any reason they are slightly bent or twisted, as is often the case, their operation is interfered with. These metallic vspring friction devices wherever they have been employed in direct engageln ent'with the rotation of the thread-cop is substantially constant irrespective of whether the cop be full or partially exhausted. Less tension on the thread, therefore, is required to draw it 0E when the cop is full than when it is partially exhausted, since the resistance is substantially constant, While the radius or leverage is much greater in the former case than in the latter. None of these devices of the prior art, therefore, can produce uniform and unvarying tension on the shuttle-thread, so necessary for perfect sewing.

In the present invention I have provided a simple and efficient friction device which overcomes all these objectionable features inherent in the friction devices of the prior art and which is applicable, among others, to the shuttles of the Singer 0. 3., Singer I. M.,

Singer large fiat bobbin, Wheeler & Wilson I consists of felt or some other elastic fabric.

This felt is in the form of a washer surrounding the tube or bearing4of the bobbin-case and closely fitting the interior of the bobbin-case,

so that it is held from rotation with the cop.j

The felt washer directly engages the threadcop with a light yielding pressure, which by the nature of the two contactingcsurfaces results in a smooth and even resistance to rotation on the part of the cop. Since the felt washer engages one entire end of the cop, the resistance to rotation of the cop will be greater the greater the diameter of the cop; but since the effective distance through which the pull on the thread is exerted is the radius of the cop these two factors will balance each other, and the tension on the thread necessary to draw off thread from the cop will be uniform and unvarying no matter what the diameter of the cop may be.

It will be noted in this connection that since the felt washer fits tightly within the bobbin-case it cannot rotate with the cop, which would result in a markedly-diminished resistance through the sliding of the felt on the metal. Moreover, there are no spring arms or points to abrade or entangle the thread, thus avoiding the necessity of stopping the sewing-machine and the loss of time and waste of thread.

Although in Fig. 2 of the drawings the latch is shown for holding the bobbin-case within the shuttle, I have not described the same, as it forms no part of the present invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. A sewing-machine shuttle, having, in combination, a shuttle, a bobbin-case constructed to receive a cop of thread from the outside of which the thread is unwound by rotation of the cop in the case, and a washer of elastic fabric located in the bobbin-case and bearing frictionally upon the end of the cop to control its rotation in the bobbin-case, substantially as described.

2. A sewingmachine shuttle, having, in combination, a shuttle, a bobbincase constructed to receive a cop of thread from the outside of which the thread is unwound by rotation of-the cop in the case, and a washer of elastic fabric located within the bobbincase and held from rotation therein said washerbearing frictionally upon the end of the cop to control its rotation in the bobbincase, substantially as described.

3. A sewingmachine shuttle, having, in combination, a shuttle, a bobbin -case constructed to receive a cop of thread from the outside of -which the thread is unwound by rotation ofthe cop in the case, and a washer of elastic fabric located within the bobbincase and fitted tightly thereto, said washer bearing frictionally upon the end of the cop to control its rotation inthe bobbin-case, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRED L. BABB.

Witnesses:

ALFRED H. HILDRETH, HORACE VAN EVEREN. 

